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Progress in primary care reform in Ukraine discussed at the 2018 WICC Annual Meeting in Lviv

29 August 2018

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On August 25-29, the 2018 WONCA International Classification Committee (WICC) Annual Meeting in Lviv brought together the leading specialists in Family Medicine/General Practice from around the world, who shared their knowledge and extensive experience. The meeting was also attended by the leaders of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and representatives of the Ukrainian medical community.

The 2018 WICC Annual Meeting open session was held on August 28. This event was a great opportunity for the Ukrainian doctors to discuss with prominent international experts and foreign colleagues the ongoing healthcare transformation, and the primary care reform in particular. The Ukrainian family doctors, pediatricians and therapists outlined current changes and improvements in their work in the context of the primary care transformation. The Family Medicine/General Practice specialists from 19 countries shared their experience with the use of ICPC-2 and provided tips on how to best organize home visits and patient consultations during non-working hours, how to minimize time spent on paper work by using appropriate office equipment and resources, etc.

The meeting participants agreed that significant progress was made in the Ukrainian healthcare transformation, aimed at improving the system in line with the highest international standards and best practices.

"Ukraine is most honored to host this conference, in particular in view of the ongoing large-scale healthcare transformation, which we hope will serve a model for other countries. We are implementing the new healthcare model based on the principles of free choice and trust in doctor-patient relationships. Our key objective is to create strong and independent family medicine institutions, which will become cornerstones for sustainable development of the healthcare system in Ukraine. Over 16 million Ukrainians have already chosen their doctors. Transformation is underway!" underlined Dr. Ulana Suprun, acting Minister of Health of Ukraine.

In early 2017, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine signed an agreement with the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) on the licensed use of the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2) in the general practice/family medicine in Ukraine. The Ukrainian doctors have joined the international community and colleagues who use this simple and convenient tool in daily practice. This is one of the key accomplishments in the Ukrainian healthcare transformation.

ICPC-2 is the most widely used classification in clinical settings. The ICPC-2 functionality allows using it for any clinical case that can occur in general practice and family medicine.

The use of ICPC-2 will allow Ukrainian primary care providers (family doctors, general practitioners and pediatricians) to focus on the needs of their patients, instead of spending a significant part of their working time on paper work and statistical data collection.